Friday 18 August 2017

The Plants of Lackford

An array of interesting plants are on display at Lackford at the moment- some huge and statuesque; others which can be admired only by getting down on your hands and knees!

By far the tallest plant in flower are the very woolly great mulleins, which grace the perimeter of the car park and the edges of the breckland field to the east of the Centre. In ideal conditions these can reach an impressive seven feet tall, but the poor sandy soil of Lackford and the occasional nibble from the rabbits keeps them a little shorter- perhaps five feet at most. These have a long spire of yellow flowers, a few of which open at a time and the leaves are the foodplant of mullein moth- their white caterpillars with rows of black and yellow spots often adorn the leaves in late summer on the reserve and are an impressive sight.

great mullein
Another, rarer relative, the dark mullein, has a habit of growing singly or in very small groups close to the Viewing Platform. Its a smaller plant, but with brighter yellow flowers with conspicuous furry purple stamens- very beautiful close up.

dark mullein spire
dark mullein (flower detail)

The royal-blue flowers of viper's bugloss are still visible all around the edges of the Kingfisher Trail, and these are a favourite with bumblebees (especially common carder), butterflies and the odd hummingbird hawkmoth (who visit usually on hotter days).

viper's bugloss
Mingled in with the viper's bugloss, and approximately the same height, are the creamy white spires of wild mignonette. This is one of a wide range of plants that grow at Lackford because they like the light, sandy soil typical of the Brecks. It's often a little more windy than elsewhere here, and these winds frequently disturb the light, loose soil which the Breckland plants actively benefit from- it provides them with bare, open patches for their seeds to germinate without the competition from vigorous grasses which prefer a more stable soil. Breckland plants often grow slowly and many are very small; this lack of competition from grasses means they can thrive at Lackford. The foliage of wild mignonette provides food for the caterpillars of the large white, small white and orange tip butterflies, and the flowers are very popular with bees and hoverflies.

wild mignonette

Church Walk is currently dotted with the yellow star-like flowers of cat's-ear, a member of the dandelion family but much shorter and more delicate-looking. If you look over the fence that borders the path here you'll also the tawny brown flowerheads of carline thistles, another breckland speciality, sitting ten to fifteen inches above the ground. Carline thistles are usually found growing in coastal sand dunes, but the sandy inland conditions at Lackford prove just as suitable! Three other thistles can be readily seen on the reserve at the moment- the very small but numerous lilac flowers of creeping thistle, the larger violet blooms of spear thistle, and the nodding purple heads of musk thistle which grow in clumps in the fields either side of Church Walk.

Musk thistle


Carline thistle



















The diversity of habitats at Lackford mean the reserve also has its fair share of plants which prefer things damp and shady too- at the moment there are lots of harebell in flower on the path between the Viewing Platform and Double Decker hide and the orchid-like spikes of purple horehound are mingled in amongst the nettles on summer trail. Out this evening, I noticed that the damp scrapes on the Slough have turned into a blaze of colour with the flowers of purple loosestrife, lilac water-mint and yellow common fleabane- a favourite nectar source for the common blue butterfly.

Harebell

The Slough in full summer colour!

Of course the biggest plants of all on the reserve are the trees, and as summer progresses you can clearly see a change in them. The berries of the guelder rose have been like hard green peas up until now, but the clusters are slowly turning red and by autumn will be a vivid, glossy crimson as will the foliage before it falls. alder trees are also ripening their cones- in fact they are the only deciduous tree to produce cones rather than flowers in order to reproduce- and when these are ripe they will be a magnet for visiting flocks of siskins and redpolls come the winter. A lot of the taller trees are clad in thick layers of ivy, especially the oaks, and as ivy is very late flowering it will be an invaluable nectar source for late bees and butterflies- currently the buds are still small but in a month or so they'll begin to open when most other plants' flowering season is over.

These are just a few of the many beautiful plants which are on show at Lackford at the moment- so do keep an eye open for them next time you visit. Some of those mentioned here feature on markers dotted along the kingfisher trail, between the viewing platform and the Centre, and over time we'll change these so that different plants are highlighted when they are each looking their best. A pair of binoculars are helpful for identifying more distant specimens, especially in the breckland field which lies to the east of the Centre. Here we have marked a spot on the kingfisher trail which gives a good view of this field and its plants.

by Heidi Jones (volunteer at Lackford Lakes)

Thursday 10 August 2017

A Summer of Butterflies

At Lackford we have recorded 24 different species of butterfly on the reserve this year, and up to 16 of these can be seen by visitors on a good day- the best weather been warm, still and sunny! Among the highlights have been silver-washed fritillary, white admiral, purple hairstreak, painted lady and brown argus but the full list can be found at the bottom of this blog. We've also included the dates they were first spotted here this year- interestingly, the earliest was a peacock on February 24th and the most recent a white admiral on July 28th!

Last year we recorded the first silver-washed fritillary at Lackford and this year we have had at least a couple of individuals on site- we figured this must be the case when two of our volunteers spotted them almost simultaneously- with one specimen looking very tired and ragged while the other much brighter and pretty freshly emerged! They have a particular fondness for bramble and thistle flowers, especially when growing in a wooded setting- sunny clearings in the path next to the Sailing Lake and through Ash Carr might offer the best hope of seeing one. The males of this species roam very widely and can move some distance from where they hatched- ours may have come from as far as Bradfield Woods where there is a burgeoning population of them, whereas the females tend to stay closer to home, feeding and searching for the foliage of common dog violet which they lay their eggs upon.

silver-washed fritillary
Purple hairstreaks probably occupy the highest elevations of any butterfly at Lackford, and can therefore be tricky to see- they spend their days flitting about amongst oak leaves close to the very tops of the trees. They can be very hard to spot in between these short flights but look for a lilac-brown underside, about the size of that of a common blue, resting on a horizontal leaf. When basking with their wings held flat they are much harder to see because of how high up they are! 2017 is the first time they have been seen at Lackford but because they live a discreet life high in the treetops, they may have been here for many years.

purple hairstreak
Another species at its peak on the reserve at the moment is brown argus. It has two broods a year and Church Walk on a sunny day is currently full of individuals from the second brood, which have originated as eggs laid by the first brood in late may and early june. The usual foodplant is common rock rose, but I had never noticed this growing in any quantity at Lackford and wondered what they might be using instead- it turns out the foliage of dove's-foot cranesbill seems to be an adequate substitute after I saw a female egg-laying on some last week! Females lay eggs singly on the underside of suitable leaves, and when the caterpillars hatch they feed only on the underside of the leaf- leaving the top layer of the leaves' cells untouched, creating conspicuous transparent 'windows' on the surface of the leaf which are a tell-tale sign the plant has had brown argus caterpillars munching through it!

brown argus
Another special butterfly- the painted lady- arrived first with us this year on May 31st. We get these butterflies in variable numbers each year, depending on, believe it or not, the abundance of thistles all the way over in the Middle East! Thistles are a painted ladies' favourite foodplant, and where the butterflies reside year round in the Middle East, north Africa and southern Europe, sometimes the population builds to a point where there is a thistle shortage, and something has to give. Mass migrations are triggered, where hordes of butterflies fly north until they find more thistle-filled habitat, and they may travel as far north as Scandinavia in their search. A certain number this spring set up home at Lackford and we are now seeing some lovely fresh individuals on site, who have hatched locally, and whose parents undertook their mammoth journey earlier in the year.

painted lady
Red admirals undertake a similar journey, and both species are very closely related. They are both strong fliers and any adults left at the end of summer undertake a partial migration back to Europe, in search of warmer climes for whatever remains of their lives. In contrast, the brown argus mentioned earlier rarely move more than a few hundred metres from where they emerged- quite a difference! Recent observations suggest that although traditionally red admirals find our climate too cold and damp to survive a winter as a hibernating adult, a warmer climate in recent years may be making it possible for a few individuals to hibernate successfully on the mild south coast of England. Suspicion arose when some very fresh red admirals were emerging on warm spring days, without enough time for them to have travelled up from continental Europe.

red admiral
Now is an excellent time to head down to Lackford to look for butterflies as it's currently peak season. It's a good idea to have a pair of binoculars handy to observe them when they're a little further away. Binoculars are also great for looking at the finer details of individuals closer to you.

By Heidi Jones (volunteer at Lackford Lakes)